Essays

My weakest paper is my research paper. This is because it doesn't really argue what it is supposed to. Really the paper has no argument at all because I haven't finished it yet. But I am sure that I will after talking with Rachel. The hard part about making an argument out of my paper is that I chose Upton Sinlcair's The Jungle as my book. This book was written over 100 years ago, so talking about how it has effect todays culture is somewhat difficult. In the coming days I hope to tie it in to current journalism of the same sort. The kind of journalism that changes the way people think about a facette of society. I have no idea what I could use though becasue most of the media these days are just winers rather than eye openners. Besides that, I can't think of a book like Sinclair's in recent memory.

My stongest paper? My other two papers also lacked a good argument. I guess that is something I need to work on. I suppose that if I made a good argument out of my personal analysis essy it would be the best, because it is my life and I have all the facts I need about it. I also think that the argument I approached in my draft was pretty good. And now I have changed the paper so that that argument is almost harder to make. So there is a lot of fiddling to do, but I think it will be my best.

Clearly...

He would have kept doing what he had been doing. This is what he did. He couldn't stay in one place longer than a few months because he got itchy feet. He was in Bullhead City for a while working at a McDonalds. He seemed happy. Except he was a hobo. But he really thought he could stick around and make a life for himself. But as soon as he thought that he went off and headed back to Franz. As for contacting his parents, only a hollywood ending allows for that sort of a thing. Could there have been one? I guess on his death bed he might have called his parents....except they would most likely be dead too. So maybe he would reconnect with Carine. If his parents died maybe that would be the end of his journeys and he would go back and live a lovely life with Carine.



Nah. Maybe contact Carine, but still live on the move. He had been hurt by his close relationships with his family and always squirmed his way out of close relationships while on the move. He couldn't really stand to be with any of his new companions for too long. He would rotate between them. But going back to Carine would remind him of his father. I really think his father scared Chris off for good. He never talked about him (or anyone else in his family).



I don't really know how to end this. Chris was a man on the move. He avoided relationships, at least those lasting a few months. And he was hurt by his family, one of the reasons he did what he did. So I think he would have kept doing what he had been doing.

Almost Late

I heard that Chris did not have a map before I read the book. That made me angry. I was thinking that some stupid kid went into Alaska and killed himself because he didn't take a map with him. But as I read the book and thought of how Chris was a normal guy trying to accomplish something a little more than normal (or less?) I thought about how not taking a map would make the adventure more adventurous. It reminds me of how I once drove to the middle of nowhere Washington or somewhere between Othello and Pasco to work on a farm for the summer. I did not take a map. I got lost. But I found my way, and somehow felt really cool. Chris was probably looking for that same thing. I think that Krakauer has somehow made me realize that by writing this book. That the unknown is just that awesome? Something like that. And since Chris may have been looking for that awesome part of like the whole idea of a map just became stupid.

I always wondered why he didn't go down river when he realized he couldn't cross the river. Could have saved his life.